On the Hook

Could Red Hook get any more hyped? With the opening of fancypants grocery store Fairway Market earlier this summer, and a giant IKEA in the works, hardly a week goes by without some trend piece naming it the next Williamsburg/Dumbo/Hell’s Kitchen/East Village. And now, a wine bar!

Already, there’s a lot to eat-and drink-down by the waterfront. Recent spreads in Edible Brooklyn and The New York Times (requires registration) revealed local foodies’ secret: the cheap, excellent Mexican and Central American street food cooked up by local vendors alongside the ballfields on summer weekends. Bourbon lovers make the trek to LeNell’s quirky liquor boutique for its superior small-batch sourmash selection; drag-karaoke enthusiasts go to hipster diner Hope & Anchor; cupcake cravers hit Baked; and steak and kimchee fans head to The Good Fork.

But as if we needed any more evidence that the nabe going from Mickey’s to merlot, the Hook’s got a brand-new wine bar, Tini, run by Monica Byrne (who worked the kitchen of the nearby Liberty Tap Room, back when they served more than just deep-fried mozzarella sticks). The menu sounds like a stripped-down version of Cobble Hill’s new Bocca Lupo: Italian salumi, nifty cheese plates, olives, salads from local asphalt-farm Added Value along other salty, snacky small plates meant to keep you drinking.

Still, for all the ink the ‘hood’s getting, it’s still pretty scruffy (although it certainly wasn’t hit as hard with the aluminum-siding ugly stick as Williamsburg and Greenpoint). And there’s no public transit, besides a couple of bus lines. So sure, go raise a glass at Tini if you’re already living in Brooklyn. But Manhattanites? You people have enough bars. Stay home.